Harley-Davidson washed up on B.C shore to be returned to Japanese owner

A Japanese registered Harley Davidson motorcycle washed up on a B.C. shore is headed back home to its owner.

A Harley-Davidson motorbike lies on a beach in Graham Island, western Canada. Japanese media say the motorcycle lost in last year's tsunami washed up on the island about 6,400 km away. The rusted bike was originally found in a large white container where its owner, Ikuo Yokoyama, had kept it. The container was later washed away, leaving the motorbike half-buried in the sand.

The “hog,” still bearing a Japanese licence plate, was discovered by beachcomber Peter Mark while riding his ATV in Naikoon Provincial Park. The container, washed away by the deadly tsunami more than a year ago, was carried by the Pacific Ocean currents some 5,000 km with the motorcycle still inside.

Ikuo Yokohama, a 29-year-old resident of the town of Yamamoto, in Miyagi Prefecture, was tracked down by a Harley-Davidson representative in Japan who saw the story first reported by CBC News.

A spokesperson for Milwaukee-based Harley Davidson told CBC News they are now hoping to pay for the return of the bike to Yokohama, who lost three family members and his home in the devastating tsunami caused by a massive earthquake off Japan in March 2011. He is still living in temporary accommodations.

Yokohama told Japanese television station NHK the discovery of the motorcycle was miraculous and he wished to thank the B.C. man who found it personally, but so far he has only been able to do so via TV.

Harley-Davidson has offered to restore the badly rusted bike once it returns to Miyagi Prefecture.

Debris is expected to keep washing up on the west coast of North America from Alaska to California for years to come, experts say.

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